Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Why I Changed on Women's Wrestling...

My buddy always likes to say that I hate women's wrestling. First, I never hated it, or wished it would go away. I always said that I didn't care if it went away. The reason was because it wasn't very good. Women's wrestling in the 90's and 2000's was more of a sex show than a wrestling match. Pillow fights, and lingerie matches happened far too often. In my opinion they denigrated what the women like Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young, Wendy Richter, Sherri Martel, and Madusa Miceli/Alundra Blaze had done before.
I'm coming to the understanding that wrestling is less sport than it was in 1985 when I discovered it. I don't necessarily like it, but I get it. Women's wrestling was so far out there that for me it was unwatchable. Then Stephanie McMahon spoke of a women's revolution. I yawned and said, "who cares, it'll be the same old thing."
What I didn't know was how much better the talent was in the pipeline. It isn't just WWE either. Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Asuka, Ember Moon, Shayna Baszler, Tessa Blanchard, Taya Valkyrie, and Ronda Rousey. These athletes have all helped bring the toughness, and physicality into women's wrestling. Instead of it being about boobs and bottoms it's more about slams and submissions. We see good wrestling moves, transitions, and power. The aerial game is evolving too as more women take to the skies as part of their offensive game plan.
This is the best talent overall (WWE, Indies) women's wrestling has ever had. Their matches are headlining shows and rightfully so because the women are far more interesting than the men are especially in WWE. I love the heat they build with strong promos, and even better matches that rarely disappoint. I'm a fan of women's wrestling now, and I am very excited for it's future.